Win a Medal, Skip the Line? Korea's Apartment Lottery Perk for Athletes

In most countries, a medal at a big international competition might bring prize money or a pension. In Korea, it can also bring a chance to buy a new apartment. I think this one detail shows something unusual about the Korean housing market. Here, new apartments are often priced below the homes around them, so simply winning the right to buy one can be worth a lot of money.

I did not know this perk existed until this month. It became news after the Asian Games.

How It Came Up

Korea’s men’s football team won gold at the Asian Games. Some players’ comments about their military service exemption caused a backlash, according to Korean press reports (in Korean). A photo of one player wearing a “discharge cap”, the kind of cap soldiers wear when they finish their service, went around social media. Soon people were adding posts under it saying that medalists can also apply for a special apartment allocation. The argument moved from the army to housing.

The perk is called the “outstanding athlete” special supply. It started in 1983, before the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The stated goals were to lift athletes’ morale, help them find stable housing, and reward them for what they did for the country. The military exemption from the Asian Games covers only gold medalists. The housing perk is wider: silver and bronze medalists can apply too, if they meet the conditions.

It is not a free apartment, and it is not a guaranteed win. According to local reports, a medal gives an athlete the right to apply in a separate pool, apart from the general lottery. There is still a selection process. The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee ranks the athletes by their competition results, not by the point system ordinary buyers use. The athlete pays the full sale price like anyone else.

Two points drew most of the criticism. First, there is no income or asset limit on this perk for private-sector apartments, so a highly paid athlete who meets the other conditions, such as not owning a home, can apply. Korea’s special supplies for newlyweds and first-time buyers do have income limits. Second, the athletes’ units are not built separately. They are taken from the same complex that ordinary applicants are trying to get into.

Why a Chance to Buy Counts as a Prize

For readers outside Korea, this part may need explaining. In many countries, the right to buy a new home at its list price is not worth much on its own. You could usually buy a similar home anyway. In Korea, many new apartments are sold through a public lottery system called cheongyak, before they are built, at a set price. In popular areas, that price is often lower than what nearby homes sell for. Local reports note that in those places, winning the lottery alone can mean a large gain on paper. That is the reason critics ask whether medalists should get their own separate chance.

Even inside the medalist pool, competition can be heavy. Local reports cite one case from 2021: 36 people applied for a single unit at Wirye Xi The City.

What the Line Looks Like From Inside

I have applied many times myself, both in the general lottery and in the first-time buyer special supply. I applied for major complexes in Seoul. I lost every time.

At first I had hopes. After a few losses, and after seeing competition rates that made no sense to me, I started to think losing was simply normal. In good locations in Seoul and the capital area, that is what the numbers look like.

My husband did win once. Before we married, he won a unit in the part of Gyeonggi Province where he lived. It was a weak location, even by Gyeonggi standards, and the competition was only about 4 to 1. The price still has not risen much, and that is why the apartment is a headache for us today.

So I have seen both sides. Where people expect prices to rise a lot, the competition is far higher. Where they don’t, it is easy to win, and winning does not make you rich. The competition rate tells you how much the market thinks a win is worth.

Cash, Pensions, or a Place in Line

Local reports compared other countries. In the UK, UK Sport helps athletes with living and training costs. The money comes from lottery ticket sales, which is a different thing from Korea’s housing lottery. The support is reduced once an athlete’s total income goes above a set level. France paid its Paris Olympics prize money from public funds.

Korea’s version works differently. It does not ask about income, and it does not use a separate budget. The athlete pays for the home. One assessment in the Korean press put it this way: the state gives the reward, but the reward comes out of the lottery line.

To me, this is the most interesting part of the whole story. Most countries reward medalists with money. Korea rewards them with a chance to buy a new apartment. That only works as a reward because new apartments here are so often cheaper than the homes next to them. A country where a place in line is worth this much has an unusual housing market.

Still Undecided

On October 8, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it would review the perk. As of October 2026, nothing is decided. The ministry plans to talk with the sports ministry and other agencies about whether the perk is needed, who should get priority, and how many units are appropriate. Ending it is one possibility, but it is not confirmed. The rule sits in a ministry regulation, so it can be changed without the National Assembly. The ranking of athletes, though, follows sports ministry guidelines, so the two ministries have to agree.

There is also a fairness question among the athletes themselves. A famous player in a popular sport can expect a high salary and ad income. An athlete in a less popular sport may win a medal and still struggle to pay the bills. Removing the perk for everyone would hit both the same way. Options being discussed include narrowing who qualifies, matching the number of units to actual demand, and replacing the perk with prize money or training support.

If the perk becomes cash, it will look like what other countries do. If it stays a place in line, it will keep being worth the gap between the sale price and what nearby homes sell for. I will be watching which way the ministry goes.